Painting the Roses Scarlet
by Bluddy Begh Hid
Summary: An Iracabeth/Tarrant fanfic. Iracabeth struggles with accepting herself, after she comes back from the Outlands, so Tarrant, Alice, Mirana, and Chessur have to fight to make her believe she really is loved.
1. Prologue

Iracabeth walked into Tarrant's room, where he had been at work making her many fine red and black hats. She picked one up and put it on and then walked to the mirror, but ran into it, as she couldn't see past the feathers. Tarrant stifled a chuckle and she moved the feathers out of the way to look at him, the two laughed heartily. She took it off and returned it to the stand that he'd had had it on.

"Stayne bound you..." she took the key off the far away wall and unlocked what held him to the desk. He stretched his ankles and looked at her dress, then spoke for the first time.

"Your dress is wishing to be removed." he said with wide eyes. She stared at him blankly for a moment, hoping he would continue. "It's tacky."

"Oh, I thought you meant you'd rather see me in my underwear than in these yards of fabric." she murmered rather dissapointedly. He looked back at his sowing machine.

"Underwear is not tacky." he whispered. He heard the rustle of silk and petticoats and looked back to see her standing there in a corset and pantaloons, and he smirked. She walked over and sat on the dest beside him.

"Missed me?"

"Possibly."

"Missed my body?"

"As much as I've missed you." he leaned near her and kissed her gently. She blushed and looked away.

"I've missed you." she smiled. He grabbed her and pushed her against the wall and pinned her there breathing heavily. His eyes were as deep as the ocean. His mouth parted into a crooked smile.

"Downal wyth bluddy begh hid..." he whispered into her ear and kissed her passionately, which she happily returned.


	2. Chapter 1

Iracabeth was malnourished, pregnant, and near death. To make matters worse, she was chained to a man, who would kill her in an instant.

"What are we looking for?" She asked weakly. There was no response, just a hurried pace. He had refused to speak to he since the banishment five months ago. Her shoes were shredded from walking and her feet were burnt and bleeding. They came to an abrupt halt. He bent down and picked up a small sharp stone on the ground and threw her to the sand. She looked up at him in horror, then surprise as he grabbed her arm and forcefully placed it on a boulder and began hacking away at he chain that held him to the horrific Bloody Big Head.

"What are you doing?" she coughed.

"Getting away from you." he muttered through clenched teeth.

"What did I do to you?" he didn't respond, and in fact didn't speak to her again, just continued hitting the metal. She looked at the stone jolting at the chain. She shut her eyes in horror until finally she felt the chain drop and heard footsteps running away. She opened he eyes to see her blood spattered on the boulder and her wrist mangled and numb, with the chain still attached.

"Come back!" she called weakly, not wanting to be left alone in the vast wilderness. The little water and food that had been found, had been found by him, and also had reluctantly shared with her. He split it half and half, which was almost unfair, since she had another being within her. She looked up at the sun, then back at her wrist, which she could no longer move.

Blood was seeping onto the hot stone, so she used her other hand and teeth to tear one of her underskirts and wrapped it around it. The white fabric quickly turned red, but she left it there anyways. Clouds came up over head, and her face let out into a smile. The rain pelted her and she cupped her hand and drank it. The baby twisted inside of her, and Iracabeth took that as a 'thank you'.


	3. Chapter 2

Iracabeth was nearly crawling across the wasteland, and could hardly feel a twinge of pain in her broken wrist. She was so dehydrated that her cuts did not bleed, and she was worried about the life of her unborn child. Would they accept her back into society despite what she had done? Or maybe they would accept her child... Tarrant's child. At least the baby would have a chance, even if she was shunned. She spotted a boulder and ducked behind it, grateful for a chance to hide from the sun.

"Your Majesty, are you sure you want to find your sister? You claimed not a kindness to her." came Tarrant's voice. Iracabeth desired nothing more than to peek over the rock and steal a look at her child's father.

"_Mirana. _And Yes, I understand...'' Mirana replied fretfully. "But, she is my sister, and I'm worried Stayne may have killed her by now."

"There's a rock, let's go rest for a while." Iracabeth knew she could not hide or run, so she laid down on the ground, afraid of what was to happen.

Mirana gasped at the sight of her sister. The mangled hand, the graying skin, and most of all the fact that her belly was extended in heavy pregnancy, but her ribs were easily visible. She immediately assumed that the woman was dead. She knelt beside her sister and placed her hand on her belly, and Iracabeth slightly flinched causing Mirana to gasp. Iracabeth opened one eye to see her.

"Mimi?" the name she had pronounced when she was little.

"You're alive?" she whispered back.

"Sadly." came the sputter of a response. Tarrant took this offensively, knowing it must be his child she carried.

"You're _pregnant_...?"

"My only company for months... all is better since he left though." Mirana sat by the rock and lifted Iracabeth's head onto her lap, then ran her hand down the protruding ribs.

"I need to get you home." A moment later Tarrant, overcome with emotion, threw himself beside her and took her into his arms. She was wasted away, and easy for him to pick up, like a babe in his arms. Mirana seemed taken aback by this display of affection. Iracabeth managed a smile and burrowed her head into his chest. her head was about half the size it previously was, and it looked rather cute, or at least Tarrant thought so. He touched her belly knowingly and kissed her forehead.

"Racie, what has happened to your wrist?' The skin was torn from where the rock had pelted her, and the iron dug into it to the bone, which was cracked and severed.

"Stayne." she snapped, not wanting to say more. His eyes turned really dark and angry.

"You two? I don't understand, she was going to kill you!" Mirana began. Tarrant lightened back up.

"My bloody red-head went stark crazy for a while, but she has always been mad, so I thought nothing of it." he said.

"Is that your baby?" Mirana asked.

"Naturally. I was in her castle for some time." he gave a chuckle, and began to think of the awful things that took place there and his eyes lost their brightness again. He looked at her with sad orange ones. "Racie, you will not kill again will you?"

"Never..." she coughed and fainted into his arms. Mirana looked at him and he gave a silly smile.

"See?" he stood cradling her. "She learned her lesson. You will let her back into Underland won't you?" Mirana sighed.

"You better hope your baby doesn't die." she said. His eyes turned blue and he looked at Iracabeth.

"I hope neither of them die; my love or my baby."

"Are you going to marry her?"

"As soon as she is well." That began the long trek back home, back to Mamoreal.


	4. Chapter 3

Absolem watched carefully as Tarrant placed the ring on Iracabeth's finger, then kissed her delicately on the lips. A moment later she toppled over and fell to the ground in pain. Her wedding dress was red, a pretty red with gold heart-shaped sequins. But the train was a darker color, and all could see it was not intentional. It was blood. Mirana backed away sickened by the sight.

"What's going on?" Mirana gasped, and Chessur materialized by Racie's side.

"She's lost the baby, I'm almost positive it's dead." He helped her stand and leave the room with Tarrant on his tail.

"My love!" he took her hand in fear and then looked back worried at the bloody mess.

"I'll be fine my dear husband." She smiled at the word. "There's a doctor nearby in Queast, could you get me there?" They helped her in the carriage and the horses hurried down the road.

The doctor opened up the door in horror , not expecting to see the Red Queen standing before him. She began to tell him the story of what had happened, but soon had to stop, as the floor was turning red.

The baby died, and the overwealming sadness caused Iracabeth to cry, tears formed in her eyes. Tarrant sat on the bed and hugged her, comforting her.

"I love you my dear. We can try again if you want. This doesn't make me love you less you know." she smiled and laid her head on his chest, and drifted off into much needed sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

McTwisp crawled up the rabbit hole to the surface effortlessly. It had become even easier to him, due to the fact that the trips up here among the people had caused him to become much more like them. He especially enjoyed his new-found thumbs.

He had been making these trips since a short time after Alice left. He wanted to ensure her wellbeing without either of them getting too attatched to the other, so he often hid out of Alice's line of vision. His efforts were futile though because he soon became infatuated with her, and it was less of a check-in, and more of a sworn duty.

He peeked around the rose bush to see her for a moment. He silently leaned back into hiding and looked at his watch. _Vile thing... _he thought to himself. _You're the reason I must leave her so early. Look at how she's matured! A vision of excellence. Why can't she come back? _Tears started to trickle down his face and he hit his watch. He onl let his guard down for a second, but that was too long.

"Mr. Rabbit?" Alice questioned, now standing in front of him. He quickly straightened up.

"Oh, hello dear. Fancy seeing you here. How are you enjoying your time here? Well I hope -" He said through a broken smile.

"Well actually..." her eyes darted to the ground shamefully. "I - I was coming here to end it. All my family is gone, I lost my home this morning, and my poor Dinah just died. I don't have any more reason to stay. I won't be missed, so it just seemed logical. I'm-" before she could finish McTwisp grabbed her arm and pulled her close so that he could hug her tightly.

"I'll prove you wrong. We need you now in Underland even more. The Red Queen is back, though she's a much more docile creature. Married to the Hatter. They just found out she's pregnant. the White Queen misses you too. And Chessur just won't stop with all the practical jokes." he said, still holding onto her, now comfortably nuzzled into her. Contrary to what it might seem, he had gotten very tall over the last few weeks. About 6"3 to be exact, and quite strong. He barely resembled his former self aside from his ears, clothes, and white hair.

He stood, still hoding her, but now it was more like he was holding a bride. Both of their faces burned at this realization. Alice gave him one look that said 'you can put me down now.'

"Oh, right." he said, slightly embarassed and gently put he down. He held out his hand for her to take it, but for a few moments nothing happened. With rejection in her voice she began to speak.

"I really do want to go back... I just don't think we sho-"

"No, no, say nothing more about it." he sighed as his head hung, and his ears dropped low. After a remnance of what was supposed to be a smile he merely said, "This way." and purposely stayed about three steps in front of Alice.

For a long time the walked, thinking of what they wanted to say to each other, but didn't make a sound. The reached the rabbit hole and McTwisp looked back.

"Ready dear?"

"Wait!" Alice shouted.

"Wha-" before he could respond she caught the back of his neck with her hand and pulled his face to hers and kissed him passionatly. When she pulled away she simply stated

"Ladies first." and jumped down to her Wonderland. This left a serene smile on his face and he murmered to himself.

"My ears and whiskers... I finally got my champion." and then jumped in after her.


	6. Chapter 5

"Racieeeee...' Mirana called out to her sisted as she began to glide effortlessly towards her.

"What is it?" Can't you see I'm busy doing nothing? Nothing takes up some tme you know. And if I do something, who will do nothing? If nobody does nothing-" Iracabeth continued ranting on.

"Tarrant has rubbed off on you I see." Mirana groaned.

"What was that?" Iracabeth shook off her thoughts and looked at her blankly.

"Oh nothing... Anyways, I need you to do me a favor and plant new rosebushes in the garden. Cheshire has a new favorite game of chasing McTwisp, and the silly rabbit keep burrowing in them to hide from him. So, it seems I need to replace them." Mirana replied, already handing her gardening supplies.

"But I?" Racie tried to argue, but to no avail; her sister had already drifted away. She looked at the baby bushes and huffed. "I don't want to." she shuffled over to them and grabbed a little shovel. She painstakingly bored a small hole into the ground and shoved the tiny bush into it. A few leaves fell off.

"Damn." she growled. "I'm killing it already." she grabbed the fallen leaves, and shoved them down her shirt, hoping Mirana wuldn't notice. She saw tiny details like that. She gently covered the roots with soil, the dirt was getting under her red fingernails, but she found it quite fun to get dirty.

Se was out there several hours, humming as she worked. It wasn't as bad a job as she thought it would be. She stood up and admired her work. _If only they were red... red? _Grass was not red. Actually, here, it was a pastel blue. She felt a sharp pain and sat back down in horror. She was having another miscarriage.


	7. Chapter 6

The sun set in colors of fire, hues of blood. "_Why can't I be beautiful... like a rose... they are so perfect... I'm..." _Iracabeth began to cry and fumble with the white flower, the thorns tearing her skin, and the blood running down the stem. It began to turn scarlet, and she rubbed it between her palms to feel more pain.

"What are you doing?" came a familiar voice and Iracabeth closed her eyes as not to see the young blonde in the pale blue dress.

"Hello Um..." was all she could muster. Alice sat beside her and took the flower from her and looked at her hands.

"Come, back to the palace we go. You can't just sit here and feel sorry for yourself, now can you?" she tried to help her stand, then the smell of the blood on the ground stabbed her. Iracabeth pushed herself into the corner, and brought her knees to her chest as much as she could. "Mirana!" Alice called, not completely sure of the situation.

"What is it Alice?" mirana strode in and saw her sister on the ground. "Oh no... Alice go get Tarrant, now."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Alice came back minutes later with him, and he sat beside his wife, then started to pick her up.

"No, please don't bother-"

"Don't be like that Iracabeth." Tarrant broke off her speech. "We all love you, and even if I were the only one, I am sure that I could at least count, even if I counted as one and I was the all-"

"Hatter!" Alice interjected. "One does not... _ramble..._ at a time like this." He lookied dreadfully confused.

"Ramble? I have never been know to do such an atrocity. Silly girls, making silly accusations..." he chuckled and carried his crying wife off to her room, where only horror ensued.


	8. Chapter 7

Tarrant walked into the bedroom and saw his love flipped upside-down hanging off the bed.

"What are you doing Racie?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Stretching... what does it look like?"

"Well, you look like you are hanging upside-down off the edge of a bed to me." he commented.

"Realist." she joked and the two burst out laughing. In this bout of laughter she fell and smacked her head on the wood flooring.

"Racie?"

"Ow..." she groaned, and sat up rubbing her forehead. He sat beside her and moved her hand, so as to see the bruise.

"Got yourself good, did you not, my bloody red head.?" he chuckled and kissed the purple spot. His lips trailed to hers and he began to kiss he longingly. But, she was up to tease instead and she crawled under the bed playfully.

"Well then." he grumbled and went to the other side, where he proceeded to drag her out by her feet and toss her on the bed. She squealed in delight and intrigue and kicked he feet at him. He smiled and pinned her arms down ad kissed her down her jawline and neck.

"You knave..." she smiled kissing him back. He began to undo her corset and continued kissing down her chest. She searched for his lips, then thought to herself how much fun it could be to have him chase her down and work for his prize. Before he'd succeeded in comletely removing her clothes she jumped up and ran out the door. He sighed upset, then laughed to himself and chased her through the hallways of Mirana's palace. She threw on her robe so that no one would suspect a thing.

Chessur materialized hext to Mirana and smiled as Iracabeth turned a tight corner hitting the wall as ahe passed them giggling.

"In a hurry Beth?" he drew out the syllables with a chuckle.

"He's gonna get me!" she screeched laughing and ran out of the room. Tarrant was through seconds later.

"Which way did she go?" he huffed out of breath. Mirana averted her eyes from the unbuttoned shirt.

"In that direction." Chessur grinned, pointing with his tail down the left hallway, and Tarrant hurried that way. "Mirana, you'd better lock the garden for a while."

"Chess!" she scolded, and the two laughed back to the throne room.

Iracabeth tripped into the garden and looked around her. Tarrant stood at the door, watching her in bliss, then snuck up behind her and tackled her by the waist. He fell backwards holding her close to him. She nuzzled into him, almost purring like a kitten.

"It's better to be loved than feared." she whispered to him, and then streched out in the grass. He untied the robe and noticed that the corset had fallen off in the chase. She smiled and flipped him to the ground, kissing him thankfully for showing her that it was possible to love a bloody big head. But did she notice... was it possible that her head was finally the right size for her body? Or was it the wrong size for her, and the right size for everyone else?

Tarrant leaned against the stone wall holding her in his arms, she silently slept on his chest. He threw his coat over her and began to fiddle with her hair. She awoke and looked up at him with a yawn

"Good morning love." he smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Morning? Already?" she sighed.

"Yes dear And I have to leave."

"Where?"

"To Queast. I must shop for more hatting supplies."

"May I go with?"

"No."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Oh, no more than a few months. I have family there as well." She huffed in protese and he stood and got dressed.

"But..." he helped her stand and she tied on her robe.

"Fairfarren my love, and thank you for a wonderful goodbye." he whispered to her. He left her standing there, almost crying.

_Why do you leave me? I want to be with you..._ her head began to ache, and she sat back down. _I want to be with you always..._


	9. Chapter 8

_4 months later_

Alice knocked at Iracabeths door.

"You there Racie?"

"Yeah... Um." Alice came into the room, her friend was turned away from her.

"Look at me."

"No." Iracabeth muffled back. Alice walked around to the other side of the bed to see an empty box of chocolates. She chuckled and Iracabeth wiped the chocolate off her moth with her sleeve.

"Hungry?'

"Yes." Alice pulled back the blankets.

"Just as I thought, you're expecting. You can stop hiding now."

"But..."

"But nothing!" Alice cut her off.

"I miss Tarrant..." she couled up into the pillow with a tear as she finished off her sentance.

"Awww, Racie, he'll be home soon, don't worry." Alice smiled consolingly.

'He's been gone over four months." she leaned over and pulled another case of chocolate out from underneath the bed, and Alice could not help but wonder where she got them all. She took it from Iracabeth with a sigh.

"Go weigh yourself." Racie huffed, and was about to put up a fuss, but Alice gave her a stern look. Iracabeth dragged herself out of bed and to the scale.

"You're so cute pregnant." Alice chuckled.

"Am not." Iracabeth fought back, trying to be difficult. "I-I'm up twelve pounds." Alice snorted.

"Exactly why I took the chocolate from you, silly." Iracabeth sat back down beside her. "Do you still have your maternity clothes?"

"No, I... burned them."

"Racie, why would you do that?" Racie sniffled.

"I gave up on the hope of ever being a mum after two miscarriges."

"Well let's go get you some, okay?" Iracabeth wiped her eyes and muffled a yes. Alice helped her up and to the door. "And a doctor's appointment." Racie smiled.

"it's healthy, it kicks often." Alice opened the door and Mirana, MsTwisp, Chessur, and Mally all stood there smiling. Iracabeth was caught off guard, almost not recognizing her animal friends, as they looked more like humans by the day.

Her face flushed and she took a big gasp of air to try to suck in her pertruding stomach. Everyone watched as her face began to turn red, and finally Chessur spoke up.

"You can't make a baby bump dissapear Beth... You know that, don't you?" he looked at her queerly. Iracabeth let out her air and began to breathe normally again.

"Yeah...yeah... shut up cat." she grumbled, then laughed. He smiled and patted her on the back.

"There's someone here for you, you know." he moved aside and Tarrant walked up.

'I'm home, my love." he was practically thrown to the floor by her embrace. Mirana shushed everyone, and told them to scatter, and then left herself.

"Tarrant! I thought you weren't coming back... I thought you changed your mind about us... about me. I didn't think you wanted me anymore. I thought you left your pregnant wife to raise your child by herself. I thought-" He placed his finger to her lips. He looked down and saw the belly that'd no longer fit into a corset.

"I left you with child?" he whispered.

"You did give me a wonderful goodbye." she smiled, trying to control her excitement of seeing him again.

"And I had planned on giving you a wonderful hello, but i doubt you want it now." She stood on her toes and placed a loving kiss on his cheek.

"Who says?"


	10. Chapter 9

Tarrant played absentmindedly with his wife's hair. It was very strange hair, coarse, and unreal, but he didn't really mind all that much. As he was staring off into space, not thinking about his own thoughts her hair fell right off her head, and he looked down in a state of shock. He began to freak out, seeing her to be bald.

"Racie!" he shook her violently, and she awoke in bad temper and put her hand to her belly.

"What is it Tarrant?" she moaned exhaustedly.

"Your hair just... completely fell off!" he yelled. she put her hand on her head and smiled to herself. He got up and picked up the heart-shaped wig.

"It's a wig genius." she looked at it and yawned, trying to act as if she was not amused.

"You're bald!" he screeched, and she pulled off the bald head cap she was wearing, revealing lovely ruby locks that fell down past her shoulders to her hips. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You appeared magically... You are part Cheshire!" he gasped.

"No, idiot." she walked forward and grabbed his long orange ponytail, curled it up on top of his head and forced the cap on. She then held up a hand mirror to him.

"WHAT _IS _THIS MAGIC?!" he screeched again. She decided not to answer him as he stared at himself in the mirror, little tufts of rusty hair sticking out from underneath the cap. Alice walked in and looked at Tarrant confused, then at Iracabeth, who simply shrugged her shoulders and laid back down on the couch and went back to sleep with a grin on her face.


End file.
